Magnus Lindbom Photography

Image of the Month – May 2013

Magnus Lindbom — Mon, 13 May 2013 07:07:43 +0000

Golden coast, Skåne, Sweden – April 2013

Things has been hectical here lately with workshops and other work but I have finally found time to post a new Image of the Month. As we say here in Sweden, better late than never.

This is an image that I was literally walking away from. I thought the opportunities for photography was over this morning, but when the sun went behind the cloud bank the light became much softer again and everything was illuminated by this beautiful warm light. I hurried back to the rocks you see in the image and started making exposures again. When I work with water I rarely make a lot of different compositions of the same subject. Instead I shoot a lot of variations with different sea movement as it is, in my opinion, essential to a good coastal image. How the waves move during the exposure have a lot of impact on the final composition.

Image of the Month – April 2013

Magnus Lindbom — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 12:15:05 +0000

Glimpse of light, Sarek National Park – August 2012

As spring arrives it brings back wonderful memories from past hikes in the mountains. The fresh air, cold wind and warm sun of spring is very much like July or August in the high mountains.

I made this image on the high plateau of Louttolahko during an hike in August last year. Louttolahko is a stone desert with a few lakes that brings some variation to a completely barren landscape. It’s located in Sarek National Park and is one of the most lonely places that I have ever been to. On this trip I was camping here for four days without seeing a soul.

The best conditions on my stay here were, of course, on the first evening. I was tired after an exhausting ascent from the valley below. It’s interesting how you photograph differently when you are physically exhausted. I find that I react more instinctively and that my vision somehow becomes clearer.

I was at my tent at the edge of the lake when the light started to break through the clouds. I grabbed the camera and mounted it on the tripod and made a few exposures. Each one came out differently as the clouds were moving fast. This is the one I like the most. To me it tells a fragment of the story of this mystical place.

Finding balance

Magnus Lindbom — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 06:33:50 +0000

Northern colors, Lofoten – February 2013

I can’t help it (as if it would be something wrong with it?). I love beaches. There are so many images to be found here. On a empty beach like this one it’s all about the interaction between the sea and the sky. This was an easy image to make in terms of composition because there are very few elements in the frame. On the other hand it’s a challenge to make an image that lasts longer than a few seconds with so few elements. There has to be some interesting details and herein lies the challenge.

On this particular day I was presented with a wonderful color palette with the turquoise of the sea and the magenta in the sky. I think it’s the way these colors interact and the shapes formed by water and clouds throughout the image that make it not only simple, but also complex in a way. It’s about finding the right balance between simple and complex.

Image of the Month – March 2013

Magnus Lindbom — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:17:27 +0000

Skagsanden, Lofoten – February 2013

This image was made a couple of weeks ago in Lofoten just before the start of one of my photo tours there. I have been on this beach in Flakstad a lot of times before and should now every inch of it, but the interesting thing with sand is that everything changes from day to day so you don’t really know what you will find. This is why I find beaches so interesting, there’s always something new to photograph.

I was intrigued by these patterns in the sand that is created by the receding tide and found them to be a perfect foreground. More and more I enjoy to work with these less dominant foregrounds that instead of creating an anchor point creates a flow into the background elements and the sky.

I really like how the pattern blends into the reflection of the mountain. I used my trusty ND-filter to slow the exposure down a bit so that the water is rendered softer to avoid any sharp edges around the waterline. Although a detail, it helps the eye to easier flow into the image and the mountain in the background.

The low clouds that wraps around the mountain makes for some atmosphere and also makes the transition from mountain to sky smoother. I hope you enjoy the image!

Northern lights in Lofoten

Magnus Lindbom — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 08:38:39 +0000

Aurora Borealis, Lofoten – February 2013

I’m back from northern Norway and Lofoten where I was leading a photo tour the last week. Together with a small group I had a wonderful week with all kind of weather conditions. On top of that we had one night with a completely clear sky and a magical northern lights display. It was one of the best I have ever seen.

Photographing the northern lights is very challenging. Composing in the dark is hard and you better have scouted the location before so that you know what framing you are after. Even then it takes some time; making a test exposure, adjust, make another test exposure, re-adjust. When you are finished you have to focus as well. In this scene it was pretty simple as the focus distance is somewhere close to infinity. I used live-view and focused on the small group of houses to the left (barely visible in the small web version) and pulled it back ever so slightly to get optimum sharpness on the mountains closest to the camera.

All this was done during a few exciting minutes while I was also helping the participants to get their cameras ready. The aurora then faded away to a barely visible. We waited for another hour or so before we headed back to the guesthouse, but nothing happened. The elusive aurora borealis…

A new photo tour to Lofoten will be announced soon. Send me an e-mail if you are interested to join me and want to make a pre-booking.